April 6, 2005

Another woman is set to be starved to death — but this time, it’s in direct contravention of her living will. Mae Magouirk has a living will that specifies she doesn’t want to be fed if she becomes terminal or vegetative. However, she is neither, (and this is not in dispute). She was hospitalized for an aortic dissection just two weeks ago. She was stabilized, after which her granddaughter falsely claimed to have a durable power of attorney, and ordered her feeding stopped. The granddaughter says:

â€œGrandmamma is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus. She has glaucoma, and now this heart problem and who would want to live with disabilities like these?â€

Her brother and sister think she would. (Lots of people live with these “disabilities.”) They protested to the hospice (to which she had been transferred), which discovered that the granddaughter did not in fact have a durable power of attorney on file. So they went to court, and got the daughter appointed as a guardian, in effect giving her the powers she falsely claimed to have.

This is a case without a lot of the ambiguities of Terri’s — the “guardian’s” lies are a matter of court record, there is a living will that does not authorize withdrawal of hydration in these circumstances, and the patient is neither terminal, nor comatose, nor vegetative, and there are no allegations that she is any of these things. She is unable to communicate only because they are keeping her sedated (and unfed).

UPDATE: The claim that no one would want to live with glaucoma is difficult to believe. Glaucoma is an eye disease which, left untreated, can cause blindness — however, it can be completely treated merely with daily eyedrops, which completely prevent it from causing any symptoms whatsoever. People can literally live for decades with glaucoma, taking their daily eyedrops and having no deterioration in their eyesight. It is less trouble than brushing your teeth. Calling this a “disability” is preposterous.

One Response to “Terri Redux: Another woman set to die”

Thanks to Dave Schuler of The Glittering Eye for pointing me to this article.
Mae Magouirk, who I mentioned before in this post and this post, has passed away this morning (May 16).
In March, she suffered an aortic dissection. Her condition was repair…